Experienced Lawyer: Veterans Benefits Claims
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is the second largest Federal Department and has more than 260,000 employees. In other words, it is an enormous bureaucracy. It can be daunting to deal with such a huge establishment on your own when pursuing veterans disability compensation benefits. When you file this application you enter into their world of specialty where the bureaucrats have the advantage - the battlefield, however, can be balanced.
You Don't Have to Fight Alone
Contact Jeffrey A. Rabin & Associates, Ltd.
It is important to work with an experienced Veteran's attorney who can help move your claim through the system as efficiently as possible. The attorneys at the Des Plaines, Illinois, law office of Jeffrey A. Rabin & Associates, Ltd. have the experience, credentials, and determination to represent disabled veterans through the process of pursuing compensation benefits and appealing denied veterans benefits claims.
Why Hire a Lawyer?
There are advantages to having an experienced lawyer advocating for your interests through this process.
- Avoid frustration and defeat. In theory, the veterans benefits system is "paternalistic." In other words, it favors the veteran. However, the rules and bureaucracy surrounding the process make it seem like, in reality, this is just a theory. Often, a veteran working on his or her own gets overwhelmed and frustrated by the process and ultimately gives up. An attorney who is familiar with the process can navigate the system on the veteran's behalf.
- Ensure accuracy and efficiency. There can be a lot of paperwork involved in VA disability compensation benefit claims. To prove a service-connected disability, a veteran may have to get records from many different locations. An attorney can help compile all of these documents, organize them, and submit them to the correct places in a timely manner. Further, in such a huge organization like the VA, it is very easy for documents to go missing or be inadvertently put in someone else's file. An attorney can help ensure that the critical documents get where they need to be, and take appropriate action when they are not.
- Avoid delays that reduce your compensation amount. The "effective" date in a compensation case is critical. It is usually the date the veteran first files the claim with the VA Regional Office. It can literally take years to get a claim approved, which means the veteran will get a lump sum of benefit money back to that date of initial application — this can be a very large sum of money the veteran desperately needs. However, if appeal deadlines are missed or other rules are not followed, the veteran may have to, in essence, start the process over. If the veteran does this, it re-sets the "effective date" and causes the veteran to miss out on money he or she should have gotten. An attorney who understands the rules and deadlines associated with the compensation process can make sure the veteran's effective date remains intact, and the veteran gets all the money he or she deserves when the case is won. An experienced representative can also explore the possibility of opening earlier applications which could increase the amount of back benefits significantly.
Act now to ensure your rights are fully preserved. Contact an attorney at Jeffrey A. Rabin & Associates, Ltd., in Des Plaines, Chicago, or one of our other northern Illinois office locations.
